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STARFLEET CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE
Ashleigh was nursing a cup of rapidly cooling coffee
as she stood in a cold cargo bay of a decommissioned
Miranda class Frigate.
‘Hit me with it Doc. What have we got?’ Doctor Hoya
Turner looked up from her tricorder.
‘Human male. Crewman, second class, rank. Been
dead approximately 48 hours. I’ll know more when I
get him back to the morgue.’
‘So why am I here doc?’ Ashleigh asked.
‘Crewman Martin Greene. Engineer stationed aboard
the U.S.S. Enterprise.’
‘The Enterprise? So what is he doing out here in a
Mothballed shipyard?’
‘Hey I collect the bodies, you do the investigating
Delanno.’ Turner replied.
‘How’d he die?’ Ashleigh leaned over the body, pull-
ing her coat tighter across her chest and covering her
mouth with a hand, the smell was almost unbear-
able. The Benzite doctor pointed out the crewman’s
neck. It was covered in what looked like a fierce red
rash with a thin white line stretching across his skin.
‘Judging by the ligature marks… I’d say he was
strangled. It wasn’t done here though. There is no
blood pooling. He was moved to this location post-
mortem.’
Ashleigh leaned back and looked around the empty
cargo bay.
‘Well, whatever they used it isn’t here now. Or at
least it’s not obvious. Who discovered him?’
‘A sensor officer from Jupiter station conducted a
routine scan of the mothballed shipyard yielded
organic signatures that weren’t here before. He
reported it in as anomalous.’ Ashleigh who wasn’t
expecting it, jumped slightly as a pasty faced Vulcan
stepped in beside her.
‘Glad to see you made it Nessani. Have a good sleep?’
Ashleigh quipped playfully having recovered quickly.
‘It was… sufficient Commander. Thank you.’ His eyes
narrowed momentarily and he looked slightly
sheepish.
‘Still working on that sense of humour T’vek I see,’
a voice called over from the cargobay door that had
just slid open. A stunning Betazoid strolled in with
a PADD in one hand and a cup of steaming liquid in
another. T’vek said nothing, turned on his heel and
began to walk around the cargobay, pulling out a
Tricorder as he did so.
‘Sorry I’m late boss. My shuttle pilot decided he
wanted to take a detour around an old Excelsior
class.’ Ashleigh rolled her eyes before she chose to
respond.
‘You managed to refrain from taking the con off him
this time then? I see you are learning self-control
Gloria. I’ll be sure to enter that into your service
jacket.’
Gloria grinned sarcastically back at Ashleigh. ‘What
have we got?’
‘Doc fill in her highness here. I’m going to go inter-
view the sensor officer who conducted the scan.’
Doctor Turner nodded and began a hurried conversa-
tion with Gloria, who had shot Ashleigh a pained
glance at her last comment as she walked out of
the cargobay past a plethora of ‘Redshirts’ taking
readings and looking bored. In the corridor stood a
BY LTBARBER
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